Micron on-track for GDDR5X mass production

Memory giant Micron has announced that it is on-track to begin mass production of GDDR5X memory modules by the summer, having completed small-run test manufacturing of its first-generation 8Gb modules.

Designed to offer a higher data rate than the GDDR5 memory currently used on high-end graphics cards and other accelerator boards, GDDR5X is targeted to offer between 10-14Gb/s - around double that of GDDR5. Micron's Graphics DRAM Design Centre in Munich has confirmed these speeds as entirely achievable, boasting of hitting 13Gb/s in its first production run of 20nm 8Gb (1GB) GDDR5X modules.

While there have been rumours pointing to a delay in scaling up the manufacturing process for GDDR5X, Micron has claimed there could be nothing further from the truth. 'Micron is currently ramping GDDR5X to mass production, and will be announcing sample dates later this spring,' claimed Micron's director of graphics memory Kristopher Kido in a blog post. 'We plan to be in full volume production this summer.'

Kido was also confident that the first-generation memory would perform up to par. 'Based on the results so far, we believe that GDDR5X has the clear potential to achieve speeds of 14Gbps and potentially beyond,' he claimed, while also pointing to additional benefits including a similar bill of materials (BOM) cost to GDDR5, overclocking compatibility, improved power draw per bit, and a smaller outline than its predecessor.

With mass production of GDDR5X not scheduled until the summer, though, it could be a while before the chips begin to appear in consumer products.